Scientists at the University of Reading have made a groundbreaking discovery into the way blood clots are formed, potentially leading to the development of new drugs to treat one of the world's biggest killer illness.
Cardiovascular disease, which causes heart attacks and strokes, accounts for one in three of all deaths in the UK, often brought about by clots blocking major blood vessels, preventing critical blood flow to the heart or brain.
Now researchers at the Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR) at the University of Reading have uncovered, for the first time, the mechanism by which platelets, the blood cells that cause clots, 'communicate' with each other and the inner walls of blood vessels when clotting.

University of Reading - Blood clots breakthrough at ICMR

Scientists at the University of Reading have made a groundbreaking discovery into the way blood clots are formed, potentially leading to the development of new drugs to treat one of the world's biggest killer illness. Cardiovascular disease, which causes heart attacks and strokes, accounts for one in three of all deaths in the UK, often brought about by clots blocking major blood vessels, preventing critical blood flow to the heart or brain. Now researchers at the Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR) at the University of Reading have uncovered, for the first time, the mechanism by which platelets, the blood cells that cause clots, 'communicate' with each other and the inner walls of blood vessels when clotting.